better left unsaid

Chapter 15: From Parts Well Known

You want us to what?" Shikamaru asked as he and his entire team sat at the ramen bar that Naruto loved to frequent. After meeting Asuma and allowing Naruto to indulge in what was turning out to be his seventh bowl of ramen, Asuma got to talking about the next thing that they would be doing, namely something that none of them had been expecting as he handed them forms of consent for some kind of examination.

"You heard me right the first time." The jounin of Team 10 said resolutely, "You guys have what it takes. I want to see you guys excel, and that's why I'm entering you in the upcoming chunin exam taking place in Tetsu no Kuni." He got the attention of Teuchi and Ayame who were both listening in to what the man responsible for their number one customer was saying, "You guys believe in them right?" He put his hand on the nearby Naruto's head as he was busy slurping up what seemed to be a neverending stream of noodles into his mouth, "Because this… this is the face of a man of intensity."

Naruto stopped eating long enough to stare at Asuma strangely and finish chewing anything leftover in his mouth, "Whatever you say Asuma-sensei… oh! And by the way I can cut the leaf."

Asuma then gestured to Naruto in a grandiose manner as if to say something to Shikamaru, "And you don't think you guys can do it? Let me tell you something. You, Naruto, and Ino are actually way better than most genin teams I've personally seen. You guys have pretty much knocked my expectations out of the park. It's your choice though, I can only push you so hard. In the end it's the option of each of you to compete."

"I'm in." Naruto said with another mouthful of food. He had a month of pent-up frustration to work off after trying to cut that damn leaf every single day and getting nowhere. A good fight would do him some good as far as he was concerned, and that wasn't even glossing over the getting promoted prospect of the proposal. If he had freaked out over getting one step closer to Hokage he would have spilled his food.

Naruto was not going to spill his goddamn ramen under any circumstances. He could freak out later.

Ino interjected from her seat as she swirled around her food in the bowl, "I'll do it too. Asuma-sensei is right, we can beat anybody."

Shikamaru shook his head, "Nope, no way." He asserted, "Being a chunin just means more work and me being stuck in more troublesome situations. It hasn't even been six months since I became a ninja and I think I've had enough of it already to last me a lifetime."

Ino simply shrugged as she continued to eat her food, "Fine. Have fun telling your mom the reason you skipped out on getting promoted when your own sensei said you could pull it off was because you want to stay a genin for life. I'm sure that'll go over great for you." She said off-handedly, a satisfied feeling coming over her when she saw Shikamaru freeze in place.

"That was dirty Ino." Shikamaru said with a sigh, "Why'd you have to bring her into it, even though you're absolutely right couldn't you just let me do something without thinking all about it for once."

"Nope." Ino chirped brightly, "You're the brains of the team, so if you're not thinking which one of us will?" Naruto raised his hand as he continued to eat, "Exactly. And that's why Shikamaru has to do it. I like living."

"Oi!" Naruto said, finishing off his bowl of ramen, "Now I've been getting over-. Hold on." He stopped his own speech so that he could spend around fifteen seconds drinking down the leftover broth in his bowl, sighing contently when he polished it off before continuing, "Now I've been getting over that 'Naruto is stupid' thing since the day we became a team, I want some credit here."

Ino smirked and rested her hand in her cheek, "Then say something smart that is actually useful to what we're talking about. Right now."

Naruto squinted his eyes and crossed his arms in thought, "Um… Tetsu no Kuni is cold. Really cold."